Chapter 857 946 Indifferent to Life and Death

In later generations, many people knew about "Huguang filling Sichuan", but not many people knew about "Jiangxi filling Huguang".

Jiangxi filling Huguang was first seen in Wei Yuan's "Huguang Water Conservancy Theory".

It refers to the migration movement of the population in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, mainly in Jiangxi, to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It is said that it first appeared in the Five Dynasties and reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty.

Jiangxi immigrants accounted for 60% of the total number of immigrants from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces to Hunan and Hubei. In various regions of the two lakes, the proportion of Jiangxi immigrants was different, decreasing from east to west, which was proportional to the distance from Jiangxi.

In the total population of 1.74 million in Hubei during the Hongwu period, the native population accounted for 40% and the immigrant population accounted for 60%.

According to the origin of immigrants in each prefecture, among the 980,000 immigrants in Hubei, about 690,000 were from Jiangxi, accounting for 70% of the total population.

Among the 2.78 million registered population of Hunan during the Hongwu period, 730,000 civilian and military immigrants moved in during the late Yuan Dynasty and the Hongwu period, accounting for a quarter of the total population of the region at that time.

The reason is that at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Huguang region was the main battlefield for the Red Turban Army and the Yuan Dynasty Army, as well as Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang. Due to social unrest, people suffered, fields were barren, and nine out of ten houses were empty. There were very few immigrants from the north or indigenous residents. The population decreased sharply as farmers fled to other provinces and died in large numbers, and "land occupation by planting signs" was allowed, thus playing the famous "Jiangxi Filling Huguang" grand epic in history.

From the beginning of Hongwu to the fifteenth year of Yongle, eight large-scale immigration activities were organized in more than 50 years, namely the early Ming Dynasty immigration. Among them, "Waxi Poyang Waxieba", "Shanxi Hongtong Dahuaishu", "Nanjing Yangliuxiang" and "Fujian Ninghua", the source of Hakka people, are known as the four major immigrant distribution centers in China's Ming Dynasty, and are also places to seek roots.

Among them, the ancestors of 200 million Chinese people left from Waxiba, Poyang County, Jiangxi Province.

During the early Ming Dynasty, the government set up a bureau in Waxiba, and immigrants from various counties of Raozhou Prefecture gathered along Le'an River and Raohe River to Waxiba, Poyang, and then distributed "Sichuan funds", arranged boats, and sailed out of Poyang Lake to Hukou.

Then they went up the Yangtze River and moved to Huguang, or went down the Yangtze River and moved to Anhui and other provinces.

Two or three hundred years later, the Qing Dynasty court organized a similar large-scale immigration activity, which was "Huguang Filling Sichuan".

It is said that residents from more than a dozen provinces such as Hubei, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangxi were among the immigrants in Huguang Filling Sichuan. It lasted for more than a hundred years, from the tenth year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty to the 41st year of Qianlong, which can be called China's largest immigration action.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Sichuan experienced wars, which led to a sharp decline in population. Therefore, the Qing government took a series of measures to attract immigrants from other places. Among them, Huguang Province had the largest population, and Hakka immigrants were the second largest immigrant group after Huguang people.

According to the population statistics in the 24th year of Kangxi, Sichuan Province, which had experienced large-scale wars, had only more than 90,000 people left.

Since the end of the Ming Dynasty, the bandit Zhang Xianzhong started an uprising and entered Sichuan to establish the Dashi regime. The landlord armed forces, the Qing army, and the Southern Ming army attacked the rebels together. After that, the Ming army fought for power and the war continued.

Zhang Xianzhong's remnants, Sun Kewang and Liu Wenxiu, entered Sichuan and fought fiercely with the Qing army in northern Sichuan. The Qing army suppressed the rebels and hunted down the remnants of the Ming army. The landlords killed the rebel peasants, the peasants killed the reactionary landlords, the Manchus killed the Han people, and the Han people killed the Manchus, "killing all the chickens and dogs".

After that, Wu Sangui rebelled and invaded Sichuan. The "Three Feudatories Rebellion" between his rebels and the Qing army lasted for seven years. These wars lasted for more than 30 years, and finally killed all the people in the land of abundance.

For Liu Shouyou, no matter whether he chose Zhang Juzheng or Wei Guangde, he could call him a fellow villager in a friendly way.

Yes, there were no "comrades" in the Ming Dynasty, but there were "fellow villagers". This actually existed since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. The Huaixi Group headed by Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong was actually the earliest fellow villagers.

Most people who are familiar with the history of the late Ming Dynasty know that there were Qi, Zhejiang, Chu and Donglin parties in the late Ming Dynasty. These are actually all fellow villagers in essence.

The sense of fellow villagers is strong, and the phenomenon of grouping by region and place of origin is common in the Ming Dynasty.

The grouping of "imperial examination provinces" is not to form a "party named after the province". In fact, the various "parties" in the party struggles in the late Ming Dynasty were not self-proclaimed, but hats put on by opponents.

Others call officials from Qi, Zhejiang, and Chu a certain party, while one of the three parties calls all the other party members "Donglin Party" regardless of their place of origin.

Because they need to prove that the Donglin Party is a well-organized nationwide anti-government force that "fills Chang'an with flying letters and envoys and rushes to various provinces."

Therefore, officials from various provinces who are not on the list actually have their own small groups, but they are not well-known in history books or are just considered to be "Donglin Party."

However, for Liu Shouyou, he is very versatile and naturally has his own back-up.

That is to contact Wei Guangde, which he plans to do quietly in private, and he is more likely to get along with officials from Huguang and maintain a good relationship with the Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng.

So after delivering the news to Wei Guangde today, he also passed the news to Zhang Juzheng.

Good at dancing with long sleeves and getting along with both sides, this is Liu Shouyou's plan.

In the following two days, various versions of rumors about the case of Minister Wang were rampant in the capital, and officials were also discussing it, but the cabinet was surprisingly calm.

Since the discussion in Ciqing Palace that day, Zhang Juzheng never organized the cabinet ministers to discuss the matter again.

At first, Lu Tiaoyang was a little surprised. Although he saw that Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde had both delivered memorials, there should still be cabinet discussions.

But after seeing Zhang Juzheng's unusual behavior and Wei Guangde's silence, he finally realized that there was more inside information that he didn't know.

And amid the strange atmosphere in the court and cabinet, Jinyi Tiqi also rushed to Xinzheng.

Despite Liu Shou's repeated instructions, since Jin Yi Tiqi was dispatched, they were basically convicted in the eyes of these people, so they still maintained their original habit, which was to run rampant without any scruples.

Well, it's just that they don't come directly to arrest people. Maybe the capital is still collecting evidence.

Tiqi entered Xinzheng, went directly to Gao Gong's mansion, and then completely surrounded Gao Gong's mansion.

Gao Gong's mansion is considered a big one in Xinzheng. In the high-walled compound, there were figures of Jinyi Tiqi at the front and back doors, and there were Tiqi patrolling outside the wall. This unusual situation was soon known to the people inside the high wall.

"Tiqi?"

Gao Gong had been lying in bed for half a year since he was escorted back to Xinzheng. Only recently did he feel relaxed and able to walk around in the courtyard.

Yes, although the decree caught up with him and granted him a high-gong post road, Jinyiwei and the people from Dongchang followed him closely, almost escorting him back to his home in Xinzheng.

At this time, news of Gao Gong's loss of power had spread throughout the city. Everyone knew that Gao Gong had offended the Queen Mother and the Emperor, so he was dismissed from office.

As a result, except for those who were already close to the Gao family, no one else dared to visit.

Gao Gong has been relatively clean in the past six months. In fact, he doesn't want to see anyone. He really feels shameless.

But just today, he received a report from his servants that Jinyi Tiqi was surrounded outside the house, but they did not rush into the house.

"I understand, you go down."

Gao Gong gave instructions to his servants, and before leaving the house, he said: "Let me know, let me know what to do in the house. It depends on the wind and the rain.

Your master has not been taken away yet, so what are you afraid of? "

"Master, the people from the Imperial Guard outside are calling the door and asking the master to get out."

At this moment, the concierge boy ran in to report.

Gao Gong's face changed slightly, but he soon felt relieved.

It's calling the door, not breaking in. The meaning is different.

When Jinyiwei arrests people, they break in directly to arrest people and ransack their homes, but they don't call the door.

So Gao Gong pretended to be calm and came to the gate of the mansion. Of course the leader of the Tiqi knew Gao Gong, and the people in Jinyiwei were actually very familiar with the officials in the capital, otherwise this errand would not have fallen on him.

If an unknown Tiqi is sent to arrest someone and the wrong person is arrested, the consequences will be serious.

After reading the imperial edict, Gao Gong knew that he was imprisoned at home.

Although he said that as long as he didn't leave the city, he would be fine, but if he really went out, there would be a bunch of royal guards following behind him.

It's embarrassing just to think about it.

As for the argument, Gao Gong was familiar with the court and knew that the solution to the matter was not in Xinzheng, but in the capital.

What's the point of arguing with a rough guy from Jinyiwei? When a scholar encounters soldiers, he can't explain why. Even if he is a Jinshi, he is just bringing humiliation to himself.

The changes outside Gaofu soon spread throughout the city, and the Xinzheng government wanted to send people over to check.

The Tiqi dispatched this time with complete procedures and an imperial edict. If they didn't get the edict, they would just have to get someone's driving sticker.

However, they did not arrest anyone, so the local government naturally did not dare to embarrass them, and they had to provide good food and drink.

After all, the Jinyiwei were registered soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. According to the military system of the Ming Dynasty, the local government paid for the material supplies in the counties where the Ming army passed.

With such a group of Tiqi stationed in Xinzheng, the people are now walking around Gaofu, for fear of offending the notorious Jin Yiwei.

Anyone who goes out to buy in the Gaofu family will be strictly inspected by the Jinyi Tiqi when entering and exiting. They will not be affected much, but they will be frightened.

As a result, everyone in the Gao Mansion is now in danger, and even Gao Gong's calm demeanor has gradually lost its ability to calm people's hearts.

Yes, Gao Gong could only pretend at this time. Although he didn't know the final result yet, he had already prepared for the worst.

He didn't expect that even after he was dismissed from office, Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng still refused to let him go.

In Gao Gong's opinion, Feng Bao must have been the cause of this matter, and Zhang Juzheng must have been involved in this matter, otherwise there would have been no imperial edict issued.

You know, Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister, has the right to refute the imperial edict, but he does not.

Such a decree directed at the former chief minister of the cabinet was issued in such a grand manner. It is impossible to say that there is nothing fishy in it.

Just as Wei Guangde was worried about at the beginning, he was angry with Xu Jie at first, but he only attacked his nephew and did not let anyone implicate the case to Xu Jie. He was just worried that if the minister's amulet was gone, he would not be safe in the future. .

Gao Gong thought about it in his house for two days, and finally decided to take action. He couldn't keep silent like this.

Although the imperial edict did not explain why this was the case, he knew that if he could use the royal guards instead of local officials, it must involve nobles in the palace.

If you want to find someone to intercede, you can only be a senior minister in the court.

Although it seems that none of his people in the capital have either resigned from office or been sent abroad, Gao Gong knows very well that the officials in the capital are not of the same mind, and everyone has their own interests and demands.

Among the three cabinet members, Gao Gong did not choose to write to Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng, but chose Lu Tiaoyang.

If a cabinet minister had not spoken out about this matter, it would not have caused much trouble.

Although he had a general relationship with Lü Diaoyang, he was once the Minister of Rites and understood the importance of maintaining the system, or the rules.

Among the six ministries and nine officials, he chose to write a letter to Ge Shouli, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and also wrote a letter to Yang Bo, the Minister of Personnel.

The content of the letter was naturally to ask them to help him clear his grievances.

Although Gao Gong believed that Zhang Juzheng must have been involved in this matter, Yang Bo and Zhang Juzheng were not on the same path, and he had his own thoughts.

At the same time, Yang Bo was also a veteran who had served three dynasties. It was absolutely impossible to say that he was clean.

If he, the former Prime Minister, could be held accountable for unfounded crimes, what about Yang Bo in the future?

Although Yang Bo was not a member of Zhang Juzheng's party, the two had a close relationship and had a great influence on each other, so he still tried to write a letter to Yang Bo, hoping that he could persuade Zhang Juzheng to change his ways.

Therefore, Gao Gong's letter was secretly sent to the capital overnight by his trusted people. At this time, after trembling for a few days, the servants of Gao's mansion began to make small moves in private.

Perhaps because the master's trusted people suddenly disappeared, the people in the mansion were panicked, and many servants had begun to think about their own things.

Not only did they start to pack their own things, but they also quietly, or tacitly, started to pack the property in the mansion.

Husband and wife are birds of the same forest. When disaster strikes, they fly away separately, not to mention that they are just master and servant.

Gao Gong naturally saw these small moves, but at this time, he chose to remain silent.

You know, once the Jinyi Tiqi outside the door rushed in to confiscate the house, these things would also be taken away by the court.

It doesn't matter who they give it to?

If he really came to that point, he still hoped not to involve the servants in his mansion.

He just ordered the housekeeper to find the indentures of some of the family children in the family. If the situation really got out of control, he would return the indentures to them and let them flee.

In fact, Gao Gong was carrying a gold nugget on his body now.

Yes, he planned to swallow gold and commit suicide at the last moment to avoid being insulted by his political enemies.

The gold nugget in his hand was certainly not the gold that the ignorant fools thought it was, but the ore that had not been refined from the gold mine in the south.

The ancients thought that swallowing gold could lead to suicide, but in fact, this gold was not the same gold.

If gold was really poisonous, who would make it into jewelry and wear it all day long?

The Tang Dynasty medical book "Compendium of Materia Medica" recorded: "All golds are poisonous, raw gold is very poisonous, and the poison will kill people."

The famous Ming Dynasty medical scientist Li Shizhen also recorded in "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Poisonous gold is raw gold, which comes from the stone of Jiaoguang Mountain. It is red and very poisonous. It kills people. It is refined more than ten times before the poison is gone."

Therefore, the gold swallowing suicide is not gold, but natural gold ore containing a large amount of lead, mercury and other poisons.

For Gao Gong, who has already become indifferent to life and death, he naturally would not be so attached to the gold, silver and treasures in his home. If they wanted them, let them take them. He just hoped that they could pass the test of the Jinyiwei.